Painting the night blue

I have wondered how to paint night scenes for quite some time now and had quite a few questions that needed answering: what kind of colours to use, how much detail to leave out and in,etc, etc etc! These are my first two rather timid and quite romantic scenes. They feel like movie stills to me! But it was fun to experiment

The First painting reminds me of a camping holiday way back when we first arrived in New Zealand. The moon rose at night and it was a magnificent sight. You know those evenings when the air is still, no clouds at all and the moon seems to take up half the sky? Well, that was this night AND it was reflected in the sea...truly amazing. I cycled up a steep road to the top of Shakespeare cliff and met a woman, walking her dog. She too had been attracted by the moon. Her enormous, shaggy and clearly deranged dog was responding  to same moon by trying to eat my tyres. I digress. So there we were, 10pm at night,on top of a cliff , admiring the moon. Such a special moment.I felt so brave and privileged!!

Anyway, I have replaced the nutter dog with a Scottie!

The photo is blurry and the yellow of the moon did not translate, sorry.

This next image  is purely form my imagination.